1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an electrical connector, and in particular to a receptacle connector having excellent electrical shielding properties.
2. The Prior Art
A receptacle connector is mated with a plug connector to electrically connect two separate electrical devices. Examples of receptacle and plug connectors are disclosed in Taiwan Patent Application Nos. 83213703, 84302922, 84106428, 83110446 and 83111290. To protect the connectors from being adversely affected by external electromagnetic interference emitting from adjacent electronic devices, the connectors are provided with shielding members. However, as the speed of data transmission has significantly increased, a more effective shielding member is needed to protect the connectors from external electromagnetic interference (EMI).
Furthermore, the development of fine pitch configurations of connectors increases the number of contacts retained in a connector to an extent that the structure of a circuit board to which the connector is mounted may become unstable if the contacts are soldered to the circuit board through holes defined therein. If the contacts are surface mounted to the circuit board, then the small pitch may result in the formation of short circuits between adjacent contacts.
It is thus desirable to have an electrical connector that overcomes the problems mentioned above.